“There’s scarcely anything to eat. I didn’t intend——”
“I’ll take you out somewhere. It’s going to be a dark night. We’ll manage so that no one sees us. We’ll dine together and, after dinner——”
“I must come home early. I’m very tired.”
“After dinner we’ll go to those rooms you found so cleverly near the Persian Khan.”
She shuddered.
“Now go and bathe your hand, and I’ll wait here. Only don’t be too long or I shall come and fetch you. And don’t send Sonia to make excuses, for it will be no use.”
He sat down on the sofa.
She stood for a moment without moving. She put her bandaged hand up to her discolored face. Then she went slowly out of the room.
He sat waiting for her to come back, with his elbows on his knees and his face hidden in his hands.
He felt like a man sunk in mire. He felt the mire creeping up to his throat.